Tuesday, October 21, 2014

State Senator Martin Golden’s Chief of Staff, Jerry Kassar, covers the Dyker Heights Civic Debate — WITH BASELESS INSULTS FOR RECCHIA — AND WITH A WET BLANKET FOR EVERYBODY ELSE

As a calumniating columnist, Conservative “Common[s]ense” crusader Kassar clearly owes Domenic Recchia an apology for the baseless charges in this week’s Home Reporter Kassar columnA debate where Grimm, the cheese, stood alone, and the rest had their say — but according to Kassar communicated without using any wordsAND — About “Proposal #3" — This is the way the world ends.... Not with a bang but a whimper

Kassar used about two-thirds to three-quarters of his column this week to talk/write about the Dyker Heights Civic Association debate. Unfortunately, he used up about half of his time/space, giving an over-edited history of the Dyker civic group and/or telling everybody where Domenic Recchia was instead of being at the great historically institutionalized debate or forum ( See “Common Sense: Debating the debate” by Jerry Kassar, 10/20/14, Home Reporter/ Sunset News [http://www.homereporternews.com/news/government/common-sense-debating-the-debate/article_d55ccbb2-58a2-11e4-a15a-cffcb897f315.html]).

In fact, passing-up on this debate, and telling the world why, was probably one of Domenic Recchia’s highest and best moments from this campaign. It’s about time that somebody belled-the-cat of the Dyker Heights Civic Association and its president, Fran Vella Marrone. This group has long been a pawn of the Conservatives and Ms. Vella Marrone. Long gone are the days that the real backbone of Dyker Heights, or more accurately an older inner circle of movers and shakers in that neighborhood, have had anything to do with that group. Lately, it’s been an outpost of a Bay Ridge-based crypto-fascist cabal of two Irish-American sort of guys, who would be as uncomfortable a fit in any legitimate political party, as they would be if they lived in Dyker Heights ( a place that I am sure they joke about, especially during the holidays over toddies).

The proof of all that is in the two paragraphs of a very selective history of the Dyker Heights Civic Association recounted by Mr. Kassar, as one of the false premises of his argument against Mr. Recchia and in defense of Fran Vella Marrone’s debate. The other false premise propounded by Kassar is that Recchia somehow “issued an insulting denouncement of the group”; and that somehow such “denouncement” was not justified. This “denouncement” must have been something so terrible that Jerry Kassar didn’t mention what it was, or even suggest anything that might give us any idea of what it was that so bothered the Democratic Candidate for Congress.

Given all of that, basically what Kassar did is nothing but slam Domenic Recchia, because he had the temerity to complain that the person running the debate had a conflict of interest, because she worked on the staff of Recchia’s opponent, Michael Grimm. And rather than switch moderators for the debate, Kassar, Marrone and company chose to wrongly charge Recchia with ducking the debate. By all that is right and fair, Kassar & Co. owe Recchia an apology for their original intransigence and false accusation; and Kassar owes the Democrat contender a second and stronger apology for turning that slander into a libel in his column.

Another thing that is clear about this psuedo-conservative propagandist’s column is that he didn’t want you to know what any of those who did participate in the debate or forum actually said. Even though there were multiple participants, Marty Golden, Jamie Kemmerer, Alec Brook-Krasny, Stamatis Lilikakis and Michael Grimm, not one of them is quoted.

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS, NOT WITH A BANG BUT A WHIMPER

As his final insult to anybody that reads his column, Kassar made his three paragraph long comment about “Proposal #3" on this year’s ballot without making any solid recommendation about it. Basically, Kassar said the proposal involved allowing the State to incur a $2 billion bond debt to fund school technology; and that those who favored it wanted to spend the money, while those who opposed it didn’t want to borrow the money. (Now, YOU TELL ME ! HOW HELPFUL IS THAT ?).

All in all, the discussion of ballot “Proposal #3” was a non-memorable end to a column that would be better off forgotten, except for the apology Mr. Kassar owes to Mr. Recchia.

I believe the point is Recchia keeps dodging debates which begs the question. If Recchia cant face a bunch of old ladies at the Dyker Heights Civic Association than how will he hold up on the floor of congress?

HOME REPORTER GIVES A LITTLE OF THE SUBSTANCE OF THE ARGUMENTS AND POSITIONS IN THE DYKER CIVIC DEBATE

GOLDEN MISREPRESENTS HIS TAX BREAKS FOR MANHATTAN DEVELOPERS OF UPPER INCOME LUXURY PROPERTIES WERE FOR MIDDLE CLASS HOUSING

The Home Reporter’s Helen Klein was able to give a little overview of the subject matter covered at the Dyker Civic Debate last week, but gave none of the details of the shortcomings of the format and the handling of the debate by its organizers (See “State Senator Marty Golden and James Kemmerer debated at the Dyker Heights Civic Association” by Helen Klein, 10/21/14, Home Reporter/ Brooklyn Spectator [http://www.homereporternews.com/news/government/golden-and-kemmerer-butt-heads-at-dyker-debate/article_1c351e7e-5973-11e4-8fad-63eb1987d806.html]).

Helen Klein’s introduced her article, thus: “Veteran State Senator Marty Golden and Democratic challenger James Kemmerer tangled at a candidate’s debate sponsored by the Dyker Heights Civic Association. *** At the forum, held at St. Philip’s Parish Hall, 80th Street and 11th Avenue, on Tuesday, October 14, the two sparred over numerous issues, with Kemmerer focusing on the issue of corruption and Golden stressing both his years of experience and his plentiful plans for the future....”

What followed was a description by the incumbent Golden, of his claimed “accomplishments,” many of which involved a targeted distribution of funds from taxes and NYS borrowing on projects favored by Golden and general spending in the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Gravesend, Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Gerritsen Beach and Marine Park. This part of his presentation made Golden sound like any typical liberal Democrat that equates throwing money at problems as solving them, or at least trying to do something about them. And here was Golden’s kicker: “...[H]e promised, if re-elected, ‘I am going to continue to get things done, I am going to continue to bring money into the community and into the city, so we can use it where we need it.’...” That’s Golden all over — A TAX, BORROW AND SPEND BIG GOVERNMENT >>>>> RINO ! The packed audience of Golden supporters loved it because Marty said it.

Jamie Kemmerer came back with his populist good government anti-corruption message that Golden had supported giving “...a $50 million tax break to one Manhattan real estate developer, a $100 million tax break to five Manhattan real estate developers and $500,000 to a very shady medical non-profit.” Kemmerer also said that Golden had “spent $541,000” from his campaign funds “at the family catering hall,” the Bay Ridge Manor, reiterating an issue that had come up at the first debate between the two. Kemmerer also made much of a U.S. Attorney’s investigation of Golden’s campaign fund raising and expenditures. Also according to the report, “In response, Golden contended that the tax breaks to which Kemmerer referred were given to developers in return for affordable housing creation....”

The format of the debate and the control of podium by the debate organizers prevented a proper rebuttal that such an assertion by Golden was largely false, and that facts contrary to what Golden stated had been widely reported around the time the tax breaks had been given for Upper Income Luxury Housing.

About Me

I formerly have commented on various political blogs concerning Republican politics. Although the focus of my political commentary has been on the Brooklyn GOP and other aspects of politics in Brooklyn, I have also posted commentary about national matters.
If you wish to contact Galewyn Massey directly, please, Email to galewynmasban@gmail.com